Amidst turmoil, educators move forward with Common Core

Teachers in the Two Rivers Public School District spent part of their summer aligning their local curriculum to standards set by Common Core. Pictured, from left, are sixth grade teachers Patricia Levknecht, Sarkis Wentland, Kendall Thorne, Alex Ourada, Laura Reeves, Leah Jensen, Tim Smith, and Paul Gehrke.
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Story Highlights

Gov. Scott Walker has asked legislature to repeal Common Core in January

Local educators oppose the change

School districts have spent money and resources to adopt new standards

Teachers work during summer to align local curriculum to state standards

TWO RIVERS – Despite a bitter political battle over state education standards brewing at the capitol, educators worked over the summer to align local curricula to the controversial Common Core.

Gov. Scott Walker has asked the Wisconsin Legislature to pass a bill in January to repeal the standards and replace it with new standards set by Wisconsin officials.

"I'm all for high standards and I want high standards, but I want those standards set by people from Wisconsin," Walker said during an Aug. 9 campaign stop in Manitowoc. "It would be parallel to what we did about two and a half years ago with No Child Left Behind, the federal mandate, where we involved parents, teachers, educators, and higher education officials: a group of officials from the state of Wisconsin who would set the standards, not people out of Washington."

Local educators disagree that the Common Core should be scrapped. In Two Rivers, educators worked ahead of the mandate several years ago to implement the new standards — and considerable staff time, effort and taxpayer money has already been spent to align curricula to the state standards.

"With anything you're looking to improve, I believe (the standards) should be reassessed in three years and changes should be made, but do you throw the baby out with the bathwater? No," Lisa Quistorf, the assistant district administrator in Two Rivers, said.

What is Common Core?

At issue is Common Core which, adopted by Wisconsin in 2010, sets benchmarks for learning in English, language arts and math. The program is not a curriculum in itself, and instead sets standards expected of students at the end of each grade.

"It is very specific for what it wants you to do, but allows for flexibility how you get it across," Kendall Thorne, a sixth-grade English teacher in Two Rivers, said.

"There is still plenty of freedoms to teach your subject and be relevant to your community," sixth-grade instructor Paul Gehrke added.

Local school districts still have control over what to teach and how to teach to the standards.

Educators from each grade level in Two Rivers met over the summer to ensure their curricula aligned to the standards and found that much of what they were teaching prior to Common Core continued to be relevant under the new standards.

"It's not that we are really teaching things that we didn't teach before," Donna Kryzenske, an educator at Magee Elementary in Two Rivers, said. "We did teach most of this before. Math is a little more rigorous, but in English and language arts, it is things we have always done for many years."

What's different, Quistorf noted, is that the system encourages critical thinking and giving students the tools they need to succeed rather than focusing on fact-based memorization.

"We are teaching kids how to be good learners, how to be critical thinkers, so sometimes it is not so much about what we are teaching, but how we are giving students skills for the future," said Patricia Levknecht, an art teacher in Two Rivers. "We can teach anything, but if they don't know how to do good critical thinking, it's a moot point what we teach them."

State standards and beyond

Wisconsin is among 45 states to adopt the standards, although several have since dropped out.

According to Quistorf, Common Core is more rigorous than the previous standards set by the state — and school districts can still choose to implement standards above those of Common Core.

"They are more rigorous than what we had before, and you can go above it," Quistorf said. "Our school board has given us the direction to develop curriculum that meets the higher standards of helping kids to become independent thinkers and really being able to get the information they need to be successful for career and college."

Over the last three years, educators have worked together to create a localized curriculum that teaches to the standards — and in some cases above the standards. According to the Two Rivers teachers, the work has been beneficial to students and teachers who now understand their curriculum and have consistency between classrooms.

"There is a lot of work on the teacher's part to take these standards, interpret them, find the materials, and then put them into first-grade practice so we can teach them," said Donna Kryzenske, a first-grade teacher.

Considerable time, effort and finances has been put into implementing the Common Core in the Two Rivers Public School District, Quistorf said, noting it is stressful for teachers who worked to implement the changes while, at the same time, politicians rally to repeal it.

"If kids are really getting it now, isn't that what we want so it creates independent learners?" Quistorf said.

In the end, the teachers said preparing students for the future, regardless of the standards the state decides on, is their job.

"This is just part of our job — and the kicker is teachers have been slammed so much; (people) just don't realize everything that goes on in a day." Sheila Hansen, a Koenig Elementary teacher, said. "There are so many decisions. You are trying to do well for 20 little diverse human beings."